Nagoya, Japan, October 14, 2018 - Tijana Boskovic scored a match-high 24 points as Serbia beat Japan 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-23) in the third round of the FIVB Women's World Championship on Sunday night. Serbia's coach said winning against Japan at home is not easy.
Serbia coach Zoran Terzic: We must be content and happy after this game. Usually against Japan, 80 per cent of the time we go to five sets. To win 3-0 against Japan here is good. Now, we are close to the semifinals and we will show our best volleyball there. We played well in defense tonight.
Serbia captain Maja Ognjenovic: We did a good job in defense. We caught all of the easy balls. It was not difficult because we had good attack. This was an important victory for us.
Serbia player Tijana Boskovic: It was important to win this game, the first in the third round. It was tough from the first set as Japan had support from their fans. All our girls played hard. We will rest tomorrow and get ready for the game against Italy.
Japan coach Kumi Nakada: In order to win a medal. this was an important game. Several times the momentum came our way but we could not take the opportunities. Playing against a strong team like Serbia makes it difficult. We want to focus on the next game and work hard.
Japan player Sarina Koga: We had a bad start and gave the rhythm to our opponents. We must focus on starting quickly tomorrow to do our best.
Japan player Miyu Nagaoka: We lost 3-0 and did not have good rhythm in the first and second sets. We allowed the opposition the chance to score and it became difficult for us. We will do our best tomorrow.